Sen. Wendy Davis
Sen. Wendy Davis said Thursday that she supports same-sex marriage and that Attorney General Greg Abbott, her presumed general-election opponent in the race for governor, should stop defending the state’s ban.
“It’s my strong belief that when people love each other and are desirous of creating a committed relationship with each other that they should be allowed to marry, regardless of their sexual orientation,” Davis told the Express-News editorial board.
Davis, D-Fort Worth, said she is “pleased” that the state’s constitutional definition of marriage, as being between a man and a woman, is under challenge in federal court.
“I think that what we see happening at the federal level in terms of constitutional interpretations on that provide some hope that it may be found unconstitutional,” she said.
The Republican attorney general’s office is defending the constitutional provision.
Asked if she would call on him to stop doing so – as she earlier called on Abbott this week to reach a settlement in a state school funding lawsuit – Davis said that “makes perfect sense. We’ve seen that happen.”
She cited such decisions by Virginia and Nevada.
“Obviously our AG has the capacity to do the same if he chooses to do so,” she said. Asked if she would call on him to do so, she said yes.
Damn right. And another reminder, as if one were needed, of how important the elections this year are. The next AG will be inheriting a lot of ongoing litigation from Greg Abbott. Some of those lawsuits really ought to be dropped or settled, as they’re little more than ideological crusades that can have unexpected costs. One of the consequences of this election will be whether or not there’s any momentum for settling these cases and dialing back the activism. In the specific case of same sex marriage and the litigation over it, it’s also a matter of recognizing that the state of Texas is clearly on the losing side of the argument. We can come to terms with that now, or we can be like Ted Cruz and the state of Kansas and be forced to come to terms with it later. Wendy Davis has chosen wisely, and we should all be happy about that. Lone Star Q and Texpatriate have more.
UPDATE: Just in time for Virginia’s same sex marriage ban to be declared unconstitutional. I’ll have a full post on that tomorrow.